Contact-bank.



C. L. GOODRUM.

CONTACT BANK.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 19. I91].

1 ,298,330. Patented Mar. 25, 1919.

//7 venfor: (bar/k5 L Goad/Mm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES L. GOODRUM, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T0 WESTERN ELECTRIC COM PANY, INCORPORATED, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

CONTACT-BAN K.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 25, 1919.

Application filed June 19, 1917. Serial No. 175,587.

To all 'w/wm u may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES L. GooDRUM, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Contact-- Banks, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description.

This invention relates to contact banks for switches, and is particularly adapted for use with automatic telephone switches. 1

The object of the invention is the provision of a contact bank which is inexpensive to, manufacture, and in which conductors may be readily inserted, removed or adjusted.

In accordance with this invention, a contact support is provided which is slotted to form tongues along one or more of its faces over which the wires of the lines are looped, the insulation of that part of the wires which passes over the tongues being removed to form a contact.

The invention is best illustrated in the drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a view of the bank as assembled; Fig. 2 is an enlarged detailed view showing the particular manner in which the. circuit wires are brought in and attached to the support; and Fig. 3 is a side view showing the way in which a plurality of contact rows may be assembled to form a bank.

As shown in the drawings, one form of the invention comprises an arcuate contact support 1, which may be made of any suitable insulating material, and which has a plurality of pairs .of radial slots 2, arranged at regular intervals throughout its length and extending inwardly from one face of the board, these slots forming between them tongues 3.

Referring to Fig. 2, it will beseen that a set of three contacts 4, 5, 6 are provided for each line, which are formed by removing that part of the insulation of each wire which extends above the tongue 3. In as-- sembling the contact bank, t-hewire 4, for example, is put into place by drawing it beneath the lower face of the board from the rear to the front face in a loop and then slipping the loopinto the slots 2 over the tongue 3. The slots 2 are so formed as to give the wires a tight fit. It will be readily seen that this structure is adapted to the use of more than three wires, because slots 2 may be extended to any depth desired and the space between the wires may be varied accordingly. The parts of the circuit wires which lead into the board are arranged flat against the under face thereof and are held 'rigidly in place by a plate 7 of insulation of the same shape as the support 1, which may be fastened thereto by any suitable means.

IVith reference to Fig. 3, means are shown whereby.a series of such supports may be vertically arranged, the supports being held together by means of boltsv 8 and spaced apart by collars 9.

In the operation of the switch, a suitable shaft (not shown) is mounted at the center and provided with brushes adapted to wipe over the contacts. It is apparent that the form of the bank itself is immaterial, and a bank made up in panel form would be considered to fall within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A switchboard comprising a contact support, a plurality of tongues formed along one face thereof, and circuit wires extending different distances onto the support and ha ving portions looped over said tongues to form spaced contacts.

2. A switchboard comprising a contact support, a plurality of pairs of slots in said support forming tongues extending in- Wardly from one face thereof. said slots extending substantially radially from a common center, and circuit wires extending different distances onto the support and having portions looped over said tongues to form spaced contacts.

3. A switchboard comprising a contact support, a plurality of tongues formed along one face thereof, circuit wires extended d1fferent distances onto the support and adjacent the underface thereof and having portions looped over said tongues to form spaced contacts. and a cover plate attached to the underface of the said support and inclosing said circuit wires.

In Witness whereof. I hereunto subscribe. inv name this 16th day of June A. l).. 1917.

" CHARLES L. GooDR-UM. 

